Regulation Watch · Tourism and Health · Indonesia, including digital advertising, social-media, website and electronic-commerce activity directed to users in Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia.
Indonesia Activates Digital Tobacco-Advertising Takedown Controls
Kepmenkes 963/2026 operationalizes the social-media ban on tobacco and e-cigarette advertising, prescribes age and content controls for commercial sites and apps, and creates a verified route to content takedown and account removal.
- Published
- Established on 14 September 2026. The official Ministry of Health JDIH record does not identify a separate gazette or promulgation date and lists the decision as in force.
- Effective
- Effective on establishment, 14 September 2026.
- Added to Watch
- 30 September 2026
Who is affected
Indonesian and foreign-invested tobacco and e-cigarette producers, importers and distributors; PT PMA and PT PMDN companies; directors; digital platforms; e-commerce and other commercial-app operators; website operators; advertising and marketing agencies; media businesses; influencers, creators and affiliates; and compliance teams responsible for tobacco-product content or listings.
Practical impact
A person or corporation that produces, imports or distributes tobacco products or e-cigarettes may not advertise them on digital social media. The guideline treats paid and unpaid promotional content broadly, including brand imagery, product placement in streams or programmes, user-generated promotion, influencer reviews, tutorials and testimonials. Advertising on websites and commercial electronic applications remains subject to prescribed warnings, content restrictions and access controls, including verification that a viewer is at least 21. Neutral product listings may show category, brand, specifications, image and price only if the description or image is not designed to attract attention or promote the product. The Ministry of Health can verify reported content and recommend action to the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs; three repeated violations by the same account can support a request to remove the account.
Late discovery: Minister of Health Decision HK.01.07/MENKES/963/2026 was established on 14 September 2026 and took effect that day. The official JDIH record lists it as in force but does not identify a separate gazette or promulgation date. The decision implements the digital-advertising supervision contemplated by Articles 446 and 447 of Government Regulation 28/2024.
The most important rule is a direct social-media advertising prohibition. Any person, including a corporation, that produces, imports or distributes tobacco products or e-cigarettes is prohibited from advertising them on digital social media. The guideline uses a broad advertising concept that can capture paid or unpaid messages, brand imagery and indirect promotion rather than only a conventional paid banner.
Covered examples include insertion of a product or brand image in streams, podcasts, entertainment, news, discussions and other programmes; user-generated content intended to promote a product or brand; influencer and creator reviews or tutorials; testimonials; and other content displaying a product, its form or a name associated with the brand. Producers, importers and distributors should therefore address agency, affiliate, reseller and creator activity in addition to their own official accounts.
Websites and commercial electronic applications are subject to a controlled route rather than the social-media ban. An advertisement must carry a health warning and the statement prohibiting sale or supply to persons under 21 and pregnant women. It may not suggest a health benefit, mislead or invite consumption, show the product or an associated substitute, depict or target children, adolescents or pregnant women, use cartoons or animation, or violate prevailing social norms.
Advertising on a website or commercial application must be restricted to viewers aged 21 or over through age verification. The guideline gives examples such as entering a full name, birth date and national identity number, uploading a selfie and identity document, or another mechanism chosen by the operator. Whatever method is used must also comply with personal-data security and protection duties. A neutral product listing may show category, brand, features, specifications, image and price, but the description and image must not be promotional or designed to attract attention.
Kemenkes, other ministries and regional governments may monitor content, conduct cyber patrols and receive public reports. Reports are documented with the platform, posting date, brand, product, account, caption, URL, relevant timestamp and supporting screenshots or recordings. After verification, Kemenkes can recommend action through Komdigi's official content-complaint channel. Kemenkes and Komdigi monitor the result, and three repeated violations by the same account can support an account-removal request.
The decision does not create a separate monetary-fine schedule or a grace period. Its practical effect is to make the existing PP 28/2024 restrictions auditable and enforceable through a defined evidence, verification and takedown process. Businesses should treat social-media content removal, commercial-site age verification, content review and repeat-violation prevention as immediate controls.
Required action
- Stop tobacco and e-cigarette advertising on social-media accounts, including paid posts, influencer or affiliate content, reviews, tutorials, testimonials, streams, product placement and indirect brand-image promotion.
- Inventory every company, distributor, agency, creator and reseller account that publishes or controls tobacco-related content and preserve evidence of takedowns, contract instructions and approvals.
- For any permitted advertisement on a website or commercial electronic application, display the required health warning and the statement that sale or supply to persons under 21 and pregnant women is prohibited.
- Remove health-benefit suggestions, misleading or consumption-inviting language, product depictions or brand-associated substitutes, children, adolescents, pregnant women, cartoons and animation, and content contrary to prevailing social norms.
- Implement a genuine 21-plus access-verification mechanism for website and commercial-app advertising, with lawful personal-data security and retention controls; do not rely on a simple promotional landing page that lacks the prescribed verification.
- Keep product listings neutral and factual, and separate category, brand, specification, image and price information from promotional copy, attention-seeking imagery, endorsements or calls to action.
- Create a rapid-response process for Kemenkes, Komdigi and local-authority notices, document the URL, account, post date and remedial action, and prevent a third repeat violation that could trigger an account-removal request.